Review: Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God

William R. Osborne. Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, October 20th 2020.  160 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

Do you have a biblical view of God’s blessing?  There are those today who get caught up with prosperity Gospel.  That’s one error.  But another error can arise that is born from over-reaction to the Prosperity Gospel in which God’s blessings are denies, downplayed or the subject is diverted.   A biblical theology of blessing is much needed and I believe this book makes a unique contribution since most works against prosperity Gospel engages the topic more in a fashion of “systematic theology” but here with this book the author uses biblical theology in his methodology in tackling the blessing of God.  This I think helps readers to see verses about blessing in its context and also in light of how God’s progressive revelation unfolded.  The author is William R. Osborne , a Professor of biblical and theological studies at College of the Ozarks and he is more than qualified to write a biblical theology of God’s blessing from Genesis to Revelation.

Besides the acknowledgement and introduction this work consists of five chapters.  Chapter one is titled “Blessing and Curse, Life and Death” with the next chapter on Abraham’s family and the blessing going through them to bless the world.  Chapter three is titled “Covenant Blessing for God’s people” and chapter four looks at the topic of God’s blessing in the New Testament and is titled “Every Spiritual Blessing” giving reference to Ephesians 1:3 though it more than just a look at Ephesians 1:3.  Chapter five is titled “Eternal Blessing” and is the shortest chapter in the book and here the author looks at God’s blessing eschatologically.

Osborne is to be commended for writing in an organized way.  I also think since this work is written as a biblical theology there really wasn’t heated rhetoric against prosperity Gospel and might be helpful for those who might be sensitive to criticism of their prosperity Gospel (I do believe there is a place for speaking out strongly on the error of prosperity Gospel).  I enjoy the march from Genesis to Revelation in the book and wished the author could have spent more time with Old Testament prophetic writings but I do realize there’s page limitation from the publisher, after all this is part of a series called “Short Studies in Biblical Theology” and one don’t expect it to be too long.  Still given the page limitation the author did a good job laying out the trajectory and also explanation of various passages.  Osborne spent more time in the book of Genesis more than any other books in the Bible in this work but I think this is warranted to set the “antecedent theology” (to use the term of another scholar on biblical theology!) that shapes the rest of the Bible with the subject of blessing.  I appreciated that the book pointed out how often there’s many passages that tie God’s presence with believers’ being blessed.

I believe this is the eighth book I read from the “Short Studies in Biblical Theology” series published by Crossway.  I have immensely enjoyed the previous titles in this series and this work is no different.  I recommend this book.

NOTE: This book was provided to me free by Crossway and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.